Doha 5

I, for my part, have made entreaties to them; but they too must not fail to do their part. However fondly you may nurture a brood of crows, can you ever expect ravens to turn vegetarians? (1) I adore the feet of saints and wicked persons, both of whom give pain, though some difference is said to exist between them. Whereas the former cause mortal pain while parting, the latter give agonizing torment during their meeting. (2) Though born together in the world, they differ in their traits even as the lotus and the leech (both of which spring from water). The good and the wicked resemble nectar and wine, respectively; the unfathomable ocean in the form of this world is their common parent.† (3) † In the Purāṇas we read how both nectar and wine were churned out of the ocean of milk, by the joint efforts of the gods and the demons. The good and the wicked gather a rich harvest of good reputation and infamy by their respective doings. Although the merits of nectar, the moon—the seat of nectar—the Gaṅgā, the river of the celestials, and a saint, on the one hand, and the demerits of venom, fire, the unholy river Karmanāśā—which is said to be full of the impurities of the Kali age—and the hunter, on the other, are known to all; only that which is to a man’s taste appears good to him. (4-5)

Of course, a good man has a bias for goodness alone, while a vile person is prone to vileness. While nectar is praised for its immortalizing virtue, poison is extolled for its deadly effects. (5)